Waiting for the Evening Star

by Rosemary Wells, Susan Jeffers (Illustrator)

Berty enjoys the slow-rolling wheel of time on his Vermont farm and cannot understand his older brother's desire to see other parts of the world

Genres: Picture Books, History

40 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 6, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Rosemary Wells is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. She often uses animal characters to address real human issues. Some of her most well-known characters are Max & Ruby and Timothy from Timothy Goes To School (both were later adapted into Canadian-animated preschool television series, the former’s airing on Nickelodeon (part of the Nick Jr. block) and the latter’s as part of PBS Kids on PBS).

Reviews

[Krista]

I didn’t read this to my students because there was a heavy emphasis on wishing on stars.
Also, a young boy in the story runs off to join the army without the family knowing.

[Wallace]

"The year turned like a wheel. Time went by like a slow song with so many verses you couldn't count them."

Absolutely beautiful writing and illustrations in this story that follows two brothers, with diverging world-views, on Vermont farm in days long forgotten. While the tale is long, Wallace (2.5 currently) is rapt every time we read this tale. His proclivity for pastoral tales does not seem to wane and I love how this book harkens a more simple time, full of everyday beauty.

[Marilyn]

Mom liked the family life scenes.

[Talea]

I absolutely loved this book. The illustrations are stunning and my kids loved them and the story.

[Brooke Sherrow]

Good book to start Grand Conversation

[Emily Porter]

Time moves slowly on a farm in Vermont, and this book emulates the carefree, slow seasons. It's beautiful and descriptive, and the words paint pictures just as vibrant as the illustrations. The end always makes me want to cry!

[Natalie Cottam]

My kids found this book a little boring (it is pretty long) but the writing is beautiful. "The year turned like a wheel. Time went by like a slow song with so many verses you couldn't count them." "A sudden truth flooded my heart, although I had no words to put on it then. I was seeing time itself, not the southbound train, carry Luke away. It was time itself I saw uncoil and become an arrow instead of a wheel, heading ever onward to France, land of palm trees, never to return the same." "Then I looked over and watched Grandmother's lips rush through the words of a wish, and the wish itself hurry down the tracks and catch up with the train."

[Terri]

Here's another book I bought for the illustrations. This story is good all around, though. The story, told by a young boy, takes place in 1917 and tells of the daily life of a farm family. The young boy idolizes his older brother, who just wants to leave the farm and see the world. The book takes one back to a time where life was so uncomplicated that it sounds like a fairy tale, but you know it really was true at the time. No, it does not dwell on the hardships, but focuses on the family. And the illustrations....they are beautiful, fit the story. The detail in the pictures is amazing. I just love Susan Jeffers' work.

[Lindy]

Upper Elementary - Life in Vermont in the 1910s is very simple, and Berty loves it. He likes helping with the gardening, cattle, and farming. He does not see how anyone would ever want to leave it, but his older brother, Luke, wants to see the world. When he hears they need men in France to fight, Luke leaves Vermont in 1917 to go to war. Berty and his grandmother must wish on the evening star for Luke's safe return.

[Sally]

My little one had no intention of sitting through "all those words." It is probably a book more aimed at mature children, or their parents. Charming, poignant, without being disturbing. About a farming family, and the younger brother's experience the year his older brother prepared to fight in World War One.

[Sarah]

Very lovely. A bit quiet and subtle for a child (or my children's tastes), but I liked it for myself.

[Nancy]

Beautiful illustrations, well written